New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday barred Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group and Cyrus Mistry from pledging or transferring shares of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd till 28 October. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justice AS Bopanna, and Justice V Ramasubramanian directed Tata Sons and SP Group not to take any action in the matter of shares that have already been mortgaged till 28 October. The matter will now be heard further on 28 October.
The SP Group holds 18.37 percent of Tata Sons. The SP group had said that Tata Sons filed a petition in the apex court for obstructing its plan to pledge these shares for arranging funds and it is a breach of minority shareholder rights. Tata Sons filed a case in the apex court on September 5, requesting the Mistry group to stop pledging its shares to raise capital.
Tata Sons through this petition was to prevent the SP group from directly or indirectly pledging the shares. The SP Group plans to arrange Rs 11,000 crore from various sources and has signed a Rs 3,750 crore deal with a Canadian investor in lieu of a share of its 18.37 per cent shares in Tata Sons.
During the hearing through video conference, the apex court said that it will be considered after four weeks. Meanwhile, the parties concerned will maintain the status quo in case of pledging or transferring the shares. Senior advocate CA Sundaram, on behalf of the SP group, said that they are being prevented from pledging these shares and “it is causing trouble for me”.
On the other hand, Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Tata Sons, said that the issue is different as Tata Sons Pvt Ltd has the right to buy these at the stock market price but the SP group is pledging them.
The bench said that it would hold the maximum hearing in the case in four weeks. Earlier Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. Had told the apex court that it was not a two-group company and that it and Cyrus Investments Pvt. Ltd. There is no ‘half-engagement’ between.
